Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, center, looks out over his troops… (AP Photo / Carolyn Kaster )

August 08, 2011|By Mark Wogenrich, Of The Morning Call

Joe Paterno said he intended to be more involved. On Sunday, however, the Penn State football coach was in the wrong place at the wrong time at practice.

Paterno sustained hairline fractures to his right arm and pelvis after being knocked down by a player during drills. The 84-year-old coach was taken for tests at Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he spent Sunday and Monday. A team spokesman said Paterno is expected to be released Tuesday.

Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State's director of athletics medicine, said in a statement that Paterno's injuries would not require surgery. A team official said that Paterno's arm will be in a sling for several weeks, but the coach said he doesn't plan to miss much of preseason camp.

"I expect to be back at practice soon," Paterno said, according to the statement. "I'm doing fine; tell everyone not to worry about me. I like the effort I have seen from the squad during our first few practices, but we have a long way to go to get ready for the schedule we have."

Paterno was on the practice field when receiver Devon Smith (5-7, 157 pounds) "blindsided" the coach during a drill. Paterno stood up, shooed away doctors and remained at practice, a team official said. Penn State's medical staff later took him for X-rays.

The situation could have been worse. Five years ago at Wisconsin, Paterno sustained a fractured shin bone and sprained ligaments in his left knee in a sideline collision with two players, one of whom was 6-5, 250-pound PSU tight end Andrew Quarless.

Smith weighs nearly 100 pounds less than Quarless and was not wearing full pads. The practice was Penn State's fourth of the preseason, within the NCAA's five-day "acclimatization period." Players were allowed to wear only helmets and shoulder pads as protective gear.

Paterno began preseason camp for his 46th season as head coach saying he planned to be more involved in practice and on game day. Following last year's health issues, Paterno has said he is feeling better and had been walking 30-35 miles per week.

"I'd like to coach as long as I feel I can do a good job," Paterno said during the Big Ten media days in Chicago last month. "There may come a time when, maybe, I don't feel like getting on the field, I can't run around, can't demonstrate. About a year ago I was having some problems, because I had so many bang-bang-bang [health] problems. But now I feel great."

The collision was at least the third involving Paterno in the last five years. A month before the incident at Wisconsin, which ultimately required surgery, Paterno sustained bruised ribs after being knocked over at practice (also by Quarless).

On Monday, Paterno conducted a staff meeting by phone from the hospital.

INJURED JOE

Joe Paterno has been "bumped up," as he likes to say, quite a bit lately. A recap of his recent injuries and ailments.

2006: Paterno sustained a fractured shin bone and two torn knee ligaments in a sideline collision at Wisconsin. The injury required surgery and caused him to miss the following week's game against Temple, his first home absence since coming to Penn State in 1950.

2008: While "showing off" trying to demonstrate an onside kick in August, Paterno aggravated his right hip, which forced him to walk with a cane and coach much of the season from the press box. He had hip-replacement surgery Nov. 23, the day after Penn State defeated Michigan State to clinch a Rose Bowl berth.

2011: An offseason illness (Paterno called it "intestinal") forced the coach to skip three alumni events and a Big Ten coaches meeting. Paterno and family members dismissed rumors that the illness was more serious.